Prayers, Providence, and Provision

A few weeks ago I began an endeavor that is very exciting. I am a very amateur wood worker and for the longest time I have wanted a shop where I could have a place totally dedicated to wood working. That dream is beginning to come alive.

I am lucky enough to own a home that has a third car garage bay. It has been my vision since we bought this house to turn it into a wood shop. It's a small space with very little to offer, but I knew that it could eventually turn into a small, functional shop for the small projects that I enjoy doing. In order to have this vision come to fruition, there was a need for some huge upgrades to the space. I knew I needed a wall to separate the third bay from the rest of the garage (and to keep dust of Heather's car), I needed new electrical with a larger breaker, new outlets and fixtures, new lighting, insulation, sheet rock, and lastly, shop cabinets. As I looked at this list, I realized that with what little skill I had I was in no way prepared to take on such a project. But God provides.

A man came into my life and God has used him to bless me in so many ways. One of those ways is that he loves Jesus. We often talk of the Lord's faithfulness and the way he leads and provides for our respective families. He didn't realize this but I had spent a good deal of time praying that God would provide someone in my life to help me with this overwhelming project and that God would provide the resources necessary to make the project possible. God sent a man, full of the Spirit, to answer my prayers. Here is how God hooked a brother up:

1. The man God sent is a carpenter with years of experience.
2. I couldn't afford to pay for new sheet rock, but no worries, I had some given to me.
3. I knew the electrical would cost a fortune (a small one at least), and it did. But, the labor was free and the materials were "just laying around the shop" i.e. free. Fortune depleting project averted.
4. There was a time when we needed to add wood to the studs for the new wall because of a miscalculation. We needed 5/8" thick wood and you can't buy that size, which means there was about to be a lot of cutting and saw dust. We needed 11 pieces. God provided some "scrap" that was destined to be tossed at a work site that was 5/8" thick - 13 pieces. No big deal! No need to cut. He provided.

Why is this important? It showed me that God was in this project. Although this project isn't a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, it's important to me. Although not many people will see the benefits and not many will experience the blessings of my shop, I will never forget the provisions given to me to complete this project. In a quirky, sappy kind of way, God showed me that when things are important to me, they are important to Him. 

Sometimes we feel the need to pray for only amazing, life-altering situations and events. We can begin to think that unless it's praying for world peace, Leper's, the homeless, the salvation of people we know, that it's not important to God. What we must realize is that God desires to hear what's in our heart. We are being molded into the image of God's only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ and that takes place over time through constant communion with God by revealing to our Maker what is in our heart. Those large prayers for the last, the least, and the lost will become more fervent as we learn to come to God as we are with what we have - even little desires like building a shop in a garage.